The Silent Harper
by Shadows of Silver
Summary: Letha dreams of becoming the greatest harper in all of Pern. There is one problem however, she is a mute. Knowing that without a voice, she can not proceed any further than a mere apprentice, she begins to despair,until there arrives three dragonriders...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This is set in the world of Pern, though as yet, doesn't have any other familiar characters in it. I read the series a while ago, so my facts may be a bit rusty... This is also my first fanfiction, so please read and tell me what you think of this... Thanks in advance ^_^**

Letha shook her head dejectedly as she stared out the window, her eyes unfocused and veiled in the light of the sun. Resting upon her lap was a small harp, its strings strumming gently as her fingers brushed against them. Her mind was elsewhere though, and the melody drifted past her ears with hardly a moment's thought.

It was a Gather today, and all were outside at the fair, dancing, playing and singing. All except for Letha. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason she had a feeling of premonition, a feeling which loomed back in the depths of her mind. Something just wasn't right. It wasn't simply her loneliness here which was the problem. Surrounded by so many people, she still felt a longing within her. Here at Harper Hall, she was treated well, that much was for sure. But she just, well, didn't belong.

Her lack of a voice accounted for much. Unlike the others, she could not speak, she could not express her feelings in words, and most of all, she couldn't sing. Letha sighed, her dark hair falling forwards to shade her eyes. For her, it was much like torture. Everyone was kind of course, sometimes even pity, but some were far less nice. Like Trena.

"Can't you just sing like the rest of us? Oh wait, I forgot, you _can't_. What a pity". Trena's words echoed through her mind, and filled her with a hurtful shame.

What was a harper without a voice? Try though they might, the Masterharpers simply couldn't deny that a harper needed a voice to sing. Letha couldn't rise to the rank of Masterharper, as was her dream, not even to the ranks of a journeyman. Regardless of her skill in the harp, the flute and the gitar, she could not proceed any further.

The Masterharpers were kind about it. After all, Letha was often regarded as the Instrument Master's protegee, considering her natural skill in the area. Often, they called her by the affectionate name "Silent Minstrel" , and more than once she had smiled and played along the role. Slender fingers flying across her flute, she would improvise tunes, answer questions with melodies, and in essence, speak with music alone. The Masterharpers were delighted, patting her on the back and flooding her with praise.

But even that could not replace what a voice could have done. This was the furthest she could go in the Harper Hall, and there would be no denying that blatant fact. Trena too, couldn't help but rub that fact in.

A loud trumpet blast, jolted Letha from her reverie and her gold-brown eyes sharpened as she peered out the window. Voices cheered wildly and there was a chatter of excitement in the crowd below. Looking up, Letha saw three shapes moving slowly in the sky, their huge membranous wings beating to the pounding of her heart. The dragon riders. Letha couldn't help but gasp. Since her very birth, she had dreamed of seeing one of the legendary Thread-fighting dragons up close, she'd dreamed of seeing their riders astride them, so majestic in their poise. With hardly a second to spare, she slung her harp into its case across her back, and flew down the stairs, eager to see these dragon riders. Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. Why were they here? Was it a Search?


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Chapter 2 of the story. Again, please please read and review- I have no idea if I'm writing this all right or not...**

Gasping for air, she made it just in time to the crowd gathered around the three enormous dragons and their riders. There were two bronzes and a green, and by this point, their riders had dismounted. The bronze and green rider were entertaining the crowd, showing them their dragons and laughing at the various questions poised at them. The other bronze however, was speaking to the Masterharper, both of their tones that of old friends reunited.

Letha inspected them all with interest. The green rider was a woman, as was usual for the dragon riders. She was small and lithe, her face almost child like in its features. Her hair was pulled back with a black fabric band, revealing bright, mischievous eyes- silvery, with a hint of emerald green. The other bronze rider on the other hand, was much taller of stature, almost regal in his stance. He had dark brown hair, neat and wavy, but his eyes were a deep amber, with an emotion in them that greatly shocked Letha- heartless ambition.

Quickly, Letha switched her attention, peering instead at the other bronze rider. She tilted her head curiously. He was peculiar, but she just couldn't place her finger on it. Tall, and bony, like his dragon, he spoke with a laughing air, his copper hair trailing past his ears with a casual sweep. His blue green eyes were sharp and glinted with a perpetual amusement as he spoke. In any case, he seemed much more at ease than the other bronze rider, and a great deal friendlier. She smiled, then froze, as he noticed her watching him, catching her eye. Blue green eyes bored into her own gold brown ones with surprise. For a moment, she stared dumbfounded, as a rabbit caught in a trap. Then quickly, she remembered where she was and lowered her eyes, taking an unconscious step backwards. In that one movement, she almost tripped over a foot behind her, regaining her balance just in time.

"Lurking around again, mute?" A voice sneered at Letha, and she looked up to see the sniggering face of Trena.

Tossing her golden hair back, Trena stood confidently, sneering at Letha who only lowered her eyes again. Before Trena could say another word, the Masterharper clapped his hands for attention.

"Harpers!" he called. The crowd softened into an expectant hush.

"The dragonriders have come to Harper Hall today for a Search. D'ryn's dragon Rayth believes that there is a candidate here for the Impression at Benden Weyr."

All looked to each other in excited anticipation.

Bronze Rayth and his rider D'ryn, the one with blue green eyes, proceeded forward, with Rayth nosing his way around the crowd. At last, they came to a halt near Letha and Trena. Trena beamed and stepped forward, pushing Letha roughly aside in the process. Letha stumbled, only managing to regain her balance once again by grabbing hold of one of Rayth's outstretched bronze wings to steady herself. She blushed as she stared up at the great dragon. She opened her mouth to apologise, only to remember that she had no voice. Letha looked down in shame.

_It is alright Letha. _A gentle voice whispered within her mind. _You did nothing wrong_.

Letha looked up in surprise, to meet the eyes of Rayth, who looked down with kindness. For a moment, she stood awestruck, staring at the great dragon which spoke within her mind. But then, without a warning, her senses flooded back to her and her ears twitched as they registered a loud voice near her.

"...so you see, I just _knew_ I was going to be chosen, me being such a good singer and all" Trena's haughty voice rang out in the crisp air, with only a touch of its usual whining tone.

Letha looked up to see Trena toss back her golden locks once again, her composure proud and full of her own importance. Letha stole a glance at the bronze rider. He seemed to be torn between surprise and amusement, speechless.

"Ah. Um. Well you see-" D'ryn was saved from the awkward situation, as Rayth pushed him aside with mirth.

Rayth's voice whispered in the minds of everyone present. _I choose this one_.

With that one sentence, he took a step forward and nosed Letha in the face. Letha stood in shock. Me? Beside her, Trena was beside herself with rage.

"Her?" she squealed. "But she's nothing but a useless mute. Shells, she can't even speak! How can she be a dragonrider! "

Trena continued her tirade, only stopping when the Masterharper silenced her with a fierce glare. "That's enough Trena. Return to the Hall. Now." Trena was about to challenge the Masterharper there and then, but something in his eyes told him not to. With a furious glare at Letha, Trena stomped noisily back to the Hall, lifting her sharp nose distastefully as she shoved Letha aside once again.

Letha was ready this time though, so she moved out of the way before Trena made contact. Inevitably, Trena stumbled, falling to her knees amid a flurry of skirts. She glared at Letha once again. "You'll pay for that." Her menacing voice growled, before she quickly ran back to the Hall, at the Masterharper's direction.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long to update- its kinda short too, and more of a "filler"... But please read and review! And thank you so much to Pern Dreamer, siltrana, whiteraven93 and GinnyStar for reviewing Chapters 1 and 2! Really appreciate it ^_^**

**(And thank you for pointing out the fact that dragon names end in -th! It has been a while since I read the Pern series (I should come back to them soon actually), so my facts are rather rusty and my story is quite loosely based)**

"So" D'ryn broke the silence as the crowd returned their attention back.

"Rayth has chosen you".

He appraised her in a single glance. Letha looked down in embarrassment. She knew what she must have looked like. Thin, bony, with none of the curves which Trena so often boasted of. Dark hair disheveled to hide bright gold-brown eyes. Loose blue tunic over plain everyday trousers. And a harp slung across her back and a flute stuck into her belt. She wasn't exactly the picture of a possible dragon rider.

It seemed everyone thought the same too. All around her, were whispers, mutterings of disbelief, echoing throughout the crowd. The murmur rose, but was silenced as D'ryn finished his quiet contemplation of her. He cleared his throat.

"Well, we must get going then" He looked to the Masterharper, who nodded.

With a kindly smile, the Masterharper shooed the crowd back "Back to the Gather everyone! Come on -there's nothing more here for you to see!"

Reluctantly, the crowd dispersed with disgruntled murmurs, soon leaving in the square only Letha, the dragonriders and the Masterharper. The Masterharper steered her forward until she was right in front of the dragonriders. They smiled as she blushed in embarrassment. "I'm Saya", the green rider stepped forward, her hand proffered in greeting. _And I'm Karith_ the small green dragon shoved her nose forward, snuffling in welcome. Letha grinned and took the hand in silence, her gold eyes shining with laughter. Saya, seeing this, gave her a quick wink, her eyes twinkling green as a dark strand of hair escaped from her band.

The other bronze rider stepped forward now, sweeping back his perfectly waved hair across his shoulder. "My name is H'rian, and this is Calnorth, at your service, my lady"

He flourished his arm in an elaborate bow, his voice filled with honeyed charm. Letha mentally took a step back in surprise. That was strange...she had never expected him to be like this..but then he raised his eyes, and she saw that coldness within the murky amber, that hint of ambition that seemed so prevalent in his eyes.

She forced a smile to her lips, as she shivered inwardly. For once, Letha was glad that she was unable to speak- for right now, she would have been quite awkwardly silent. Which she was.

Letha glanced up to notice D'ryn and the Masterharper off to the side, whispering something quietly. For some uncanny reason, she suspected that they were talking about her. She shrugged the thought off. It couldn't be. She wasn't important enough to warrant that kind of furtive whispering. She was just the mute harper.

Saya followed her gaze to the pair. For a moment it seemed as if a shadow had passed through her eyes, a brief hint of darkness and worry, but then it was gone, replaced by the usual twinkling of amusement. Letha arched her eyebrows unconsciously. Had she really seen that? Or was it her overactive imagination once again?

Whatever it was, Saya interrupted her thoughts quickly. "Don't worry about those two- they can go on talking forever." She rolled her eyes with a grin. "Come on. They can catch up later"

And before Letha knew it, she was up on Kari's green back, blinking into the cold darkness of Between.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! I am so sorry for the really really late update- I've been really busy lately, but I know that's no excuse, so I hope this chapter will make up for it... Again, I'm not sure if I've used the correct terms or concepts, since I've been lazy and still have not refreshed my memory of Anne McCaffrey's Pern, so please review and tell me what you think and correct any of my mistakes. Thank you so much for persevering with my story everyone. I really appreciate it! ^_^**

When they finally arrived at the Weyr, the Hatching Grounds were already filled to the brim. In all the surrounding stands, hundreds crowded around, the excitement already building up in the atmosphere. The sense of anticipation there however, was nothing compared to that below them, on the warm sands of the Grounds.

Over fifty candidates were gathered in their customary white tunics, all eyes turned towards the rainbow orbs of life at the very centre, each one gently rocking to the unearthly humming that emanated from the dragons present at the Hatching.

The largest egg, a regal looking one of green and gold swirls, had already been picked out as the queen egg, and most of the girls present had clustered around, chattering excitedly, yet always focused on its rhythmic rockings. The other eggs, though smaller, were no less beautiful. Each one was a delicate swirl of colours, a bit of sky blue here, the green of a fresh leaf there, flecks of every colour imaginable dotting the shells.

Amid the excitement though, Letha hesitated. She remained near the back of the crowd of candidates, and merely looked on. The experience it seemed, was just too new for her to comprehend.

This was undoubtedly her opportunity of a lifetime, her first and probably only opportunity to rise from that lowly rank of mute harper. If she managed to impress a dragon, any dragon- gold or green did not matter to her- she would be able to _speak_! She would never have to worry about her inability to communicate ever again! Letha's eyes unconsciously closed as she mused.

She would have a constant companion who would understand her every thought, share her every experience and simply revel in the wonder of life. Not only that, but she would finally be respected, never pitied again because of her muteness. Just the thought of it made her smile.

"They're hatching! They're hatching!"

Once again, cries of excitement, mixed with anticipation, hope and wonder jolted her back to reality.

Letha's eyes snapped open, gold brown orbs quickly scanning Grounds. The eggs had begun to rock dangerously fast, and already, cracks had appeared on their surfaces.

An almighty crack heralded the emergence of one particular little green, and it's plaintive creeling brought many candidates to it with promises of meat. In the space of a few seconds, the dragon had impressed a candidate, the girl already bursting into tears of pure joy.

A great cheer arose from the surrounding crowds to acknowledge the Impression, and Letha stood awestruck, watching the whole scene without any real comprehension.

Everything seemed to be happening too fast for her. All around her, cheers rose and fell, each second announced the impression of yet another dragon, and the number of eggs still unhatched seemed to decline rapidly in number.

Letha whirled around in panic, tears of frustration already building up inside her. Why couldn't everything just slow down for a minute? Why was everything happening so fast? Shells! At this rate, all the eggs would be gone before she even had a chance to approach one!

In her panic, Letha blundered blindly into the candidates in front of her, just as a heart-rending crack reverberated through the Hatching Grounds. As one, the crowd held their breath, as the gold dragon emerged from the confines of its shell. Fragile membranous wings drew from the sticky mess of a shell, and the little dragon struggled to climb from the shell, its small claws clutching at the sands in desperation. It struggled with a plaintive keening, blundering wildly into the crowd of candidates. The dragon pushed through candidate after candidate, leaving behind a trail of disappointment as it rejected each of the hopefuls.

To the surprise of all, it at last, came to a stop before one particular candidate, one which hadn't even seemed to have existed before that point.

Letha's eyes widened in surprise as the gold approached, its membranous wings trailing behind it in a dejected fashion. Its whirling eyes gazed up into her own, and in a child-like gesture, it extended its snout towards her, as if in greeting.

A voice sounded into Letha's mind at that moment, a subtle one which seemed more of a thought than any human voice could sound. _My name is Tr-_

A sudden piercing note, sharp as deep amber, penetrated both of their minds without warning, a note so high in pitch and frequency that it sent both Letha and the gold to the ground in agony. The sound, even when inducing such pain, had strong impressions of darkest deep amber, shades of the colour seeming to form within their minds subconsciously. However, the sound was gone as abruptly as it had come, and Letha forced herself to her knees, her confusion reflected in the bewildered expressions of all who were gathered at the Hatching.

In that eerie silence, the gold had finally struggled to its feet and once again gazed at Letha, with eyes whirling faster than she had ever seen before. Letha struggled to interpret the multitude of emotions reflected in those eyes. Confusion, hurt, regret, and remorse...any of those emotions could have been the one the dragon had tried to convey, yet Letha could not determine which one it was, gazing into the unfathomable depths of colour.

In a heart rending move, the gold dragon, with that strange emotion in its eyes, turned from Letha and shuffled towards another candidate, a girl with hair the colour of flame.

It paused a moment before realisation seemed to suddenly dawn upon the girl.

"Her name is Tranth!" the girl cried.

After a moment's of confused pause, the crowd returned to its former excitement, their voices raised high in cheers.

From that moment, Letha's senses became clouded. Kneeling on the hot sands of the Hatching Grounds, she was oblivious to everything. All sight, all sounds, all of her senses dulled as she withdrew inside of herself, rejecting the cruelty of reality.

She did not register the departure of all the candidates, the dragons and the crowds, nor the complete emptiness and silence of the Hatching Grounds as the dark sand swirled around her knees.

She didn't even notice the approach of a bronze rider, eyes filled with worry and concern, who was held back by a smaller woman with a dark band around her hair.

The grey fog had settled firmly on her mind, and its tendrils of smoky silver were not ready to let go.

It wasn't until much later, until she was truly alone, that Letha's flute began to sing a slow song of mourning, deep melancholy notes of sorrow reverberating through the emptiness of the Hatching Grounds.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! I am so sorry for the late update once again- I can't believe that it's been almost 3 or 4 months since the last chapter. I am so sorry- I hope you will all forgive me. I need to thank ruth hammond for encouraging me to continue on with this story even after so long a break-I'd probably be still procrastinating while this story was rotting in some deep muddy pit. And thank you very very very much to those who read Chapters 3 and 4 of my story and also those who reviewed: whiteraven93, grammapink, K-9, sol goddess, RuinofDarkness, Diluain, GinnyStar, narutodragon, Rinnala, Auguruj, Miz636, Starsinger, and brownriderco. These reviews mean a lot to me, and I really appreciate it that you have taken the time to read and review my story. Hopefully this chapter will live up to the standards of its previous chapter *crosses fingers*, but if not, I will work towards it for the next coming chapters. I will try to update faster than I did than last time however. :) Once again, thank you very much for reading my story! Oh and Merry Christmas, Happy new Year and a Happy Turn's end!**

If the Weyr Hatching Grounds were virtually silent, then the Weyr itself was a hurricane of disaster. D'ryn, with Saya close at his heels, had burst into the Weyrleader's quarters, scattering many of the new weyrlings as he passed.

"Scorch it N'rin! What happened at the Hatching Grounds? Did you see what happened with that queen? How could such a thing be even sharding possible?"

Rayth echoed his sentiments in their minds. After all, it was he who had Searched and found Letha. D'ryn continued his ragings, throwing his hands about in such anger that Saya was forced to take a step back.

"This was not supposed to happen! Letha was meant to Impress the gold, just like the Masterharper said! It almost happened too- you saw it! Once an Impression begins, it lasts forever -it's been this way since the beginning of the dragonriders; in the whole history of Pern, there's been nothing to dispute this very fact!"

D'ryn finished with an angry outtake of breath, now exhausted from his tirade. Now he just glared at the Weyrleader, desperate to focus his confusion at someone.

N'rin was silent for a moment, a troubled look in his eyes. Saya, thinking this a sign of his fury from D'ryn's outburst, quickly fumbled for words.

"N'rin- you know D'ryn's just upset about the matter- after all, he was positive that Letha would Impress that gold. We all did really."

Karith took it from there, adding her own soft voice. _Letha wanted an Impression so badly...all the dragons heard her. We don't know what happened there at all. Even Tranth, the gold who she almost Impressed is confused._

She paused, silence pervading the already tense air.

_Now Letha will never get her dream. _

All three dragonriders stood there awkwardly for a moment's more, realising the true extent of their dilemna. What would now become of their silent harper? Staying at the Harper Hall had certainly been bad enough, but showing her her dream then taking it away from her seemed arguably worse.

N'rin finally cleared his throat.

"Look. D'ryn, Saya. I know how much this means to you, and I know what the Masterharper intended, D'ryn, but you know we can't just unImpress a dragon or anything of the like."

He took a deep breath. "What's done is done, and we certainly can't do anything to change it. But we can work something out from here and make amends."

N'rin ran a hand through his greying hair, sighing. He looked first at Saya, then at D'ryn.

D'ryn, with his coppery hair and usually amused blue green eyes, was so different from his brother, that it seemed a miracle that the two were even related. More prone to voicing out his own opinions and having a much better sense of humour, D'ryn was nevertheless no less charismatic than his sibling.

As if the mere thought of D'ryn's brother summoned him, the very man stepped through the doorway at that precise moment, his stature proud and almost haughty in nature.

H'rian, bronze rider of Calnorth, and D'ryn's brother, was as usual, fashionably late, his perfectly dark waved hair swept over his shoulder. If not for his cold yet deep amber eyes, he would have been described as a king in the old days, the saviour of mankind. D'ryn however, knew this to be far from the truth.

With a charming smile, H'rian laughed a laugh which did not reach his eyes. "Did I miss anything?"

Back at the Hatching Grounds, Letha had finally gotten over her tragedy and onto her feet. She had stuck her silver flute back into her belt and her harp across her back and made her way slowly across the grounds. Letha was regrettably, still in the white garments of a Candidate, her Harper blue tunic still somewhere with Saya probably. She had absolutely no idea where she was going, but continued on anyway, figuring that it was better than simply sitting in the middle of the grounds mourning.

It wasn't long before she reached the Weyrling Barracks, where the new weyrlings and dragonets were already making themselves feel at home. Letha hesitated. Eventually however, her curiosity got the better of her and she decided to take a look.

"Isn't this amazing Tranth?"

Letha froze. Tranth. The gold dragonet. She looked around the door to see Tranth with her new rider, the flame-haired girl. They both looked so happy...as if their dreams had been fulfilled.

"I never thought such a thing would ever happen to me Tranth" the girl continued cheerfully. "Never in my entire life!"

The girl broke down into tears. The redhead fortunately had her back to Letha and did not see her, but Tranth, facing the other way, noticed her immediately. Her eyes whirled quickly, eyes aflame with a myriad of colours.

Letha stood, entranced and mesmerised by the colours, overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. But then the flame-haired girl turned, looking at Letha with surprise.

Filled with sudden shame, Letha turned and ran. She didn't want to explain herself, didn't want to look like a fool explaining her muteness to any more people.

She was enough of a failure already.

"Whoa! Letha! Where are you off to?" The kind green eyes of Saya looked at Saya in surprise.

Letha, shocked enough as it was by Saya's sudden appearance, simply shrugged.

Saya grinned. "Don't worry yourself out Letha. Events have changed for the better! Our Weyrleader N'rin has just appointed you as our Weyrsinger!"

Letha flinched inwardly. Weyr_singer_? They did know that a mute couldn't sing right?

Saya saw her troubled look quickly and explained herself.

"It's just a phrase Letha. It means that you are now the official harper of Benden Weyr! You'll play music, compose, do everything that Harpers do for our Weyr"

She looked at Letha quizically. The bony girl hd an expression on her face which seemed to be a mixture of pure shock and disbelief.

Saya laughed, her emerald eyes twinkling. "You didn't know that Weyrs have harpers did you?"

Not even shaking her head to answer, Letha let herself be dragged by Saya back to the Weyr, her mind already in disarray from the day's sudden turn of events.


End file.
